THE CURIOUS NARRATIVE DESCRIBING THE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE LEADING EXPONENT OF SPIRITUALISM AND HIS FOREMOST OPPONENT HARRY HOUDINI spent the last years of his life in a crusade against fake spirit mediums. He wanted to believe in spiritualism, but he could not. Conan Doyle devoted to the cause of spiritualism all the money and fame he got out of Sherlock Holmes; he cared more about spiritualism than about anything else in the world. These men had diametrically opposite views on the subject which meant most to them; yet they were friends and mutual admirers, and they kept up for many months the correspondence on which this book is based. They wrote mostly about the subject nearest their hearts. Doyle arranged settings with mediums for Houdini; Houdini took Doyle to banquets of the Society of American Magicians; Doyle thought Houdini did his tricks by supernatural power; the magicians were puzzled by the movies of prehistoric monsters in Doyle’s Lost World. Finally, Lady Doyle, Sir Arthur’s wife, got a “message” in “automatic writing” from Houdini’s mother. It was only when Houdini found himself unable to the believe in the reality of this message (though he had no doubt of Lady Doyle’s sincerity) that a break did come. Shortly after, Houdini died; Doyle followed soon. Perhaps they have become intimate again; who knows? This story of their friendship is told by Bernard M. L. Ernst, Houdini’s attorney and close friend, past president of the Society of American Magicians, and Hereward Carrington, well-known as a leading psychic investigator, author of The Story of Psychic Science, and friend of both Doyle and Houdini.

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING NAOMI WATTS “A beautiful book . . . a world of insight into death, grief, art, and love.” —Wall Street Journal “A penetrating, moving meditation on loss, comfort, memory . . . Nunez has a wry, withering wit.” —NPR “Dry, allusive and charming . . . the comedy here writes itself.” —The New York Times The New York Times bestselling story of love, friendship, grief, healing, and the magical bond between a woman and her dog. When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. Her own battle against grief is intensified by the mute suffering of the dog, a huge Great Dane traumatized by the inexplicable disappearance of its master, and by the threat of eviction: dogs are prohibited in her apartment building. While others worry that grief has made her a victim of magical thinking, the woman refuses to be separated from the dog except for brief periods of time. Isolated from the rest of the world, increasingly obsessed with the dog's care, determined to read its mind and fathom its heart, she comes dangerously close to unraveling. But while troubles abound, rich and surprising rewards lie in store for both of them. Elegiac and searching, The Friend is both a meditation on loss and a celebration of human-canine devotion.

Winner of the 2018 Ohioana Book Award for Nonfiction The little-known but uniquely American story of the unlikely friendship of two famous figures of the American West—Buffalo Bill Cody and Sitting Bull—told through the prism of their collaboration in Cody's Wild West show in 1885. “Splendid… Blood Brothers eloquently explores the clash of cultures on the Great Plains that initially united the two legends and how this shared experience contributed to the creation of their ironic political alliance.” —Bobby Bridger, Austin Chronicle It was in Brooklyn, New York, in 1883 that William F. Cody—known across the land as Buffalo Bill—conceived of his Wild West show, an “equestrian extravaganza” featuring cowboys and Indians. It was a great success, and for four months in 1885 the Lakota chief Sitting Bull appeared in the show. Blood Brothers tells the story of these two iconic figures through their brief but important collaboration, in “a compelling narrative that reads like a novel” (Orange County Register). “Thoroughly researched, Deanne Stillman’s account of this period in American history is elucidating as well as entertaining” (Booklist), complete with little-told details about the two men whose alliance was eased by none other than Annie Oakley. When Sitting Bull joined the Wild West, the event spawned one of the earliest advertising slogans: “Foes in ’76, Friends in ’85.” Cody paid his performers well, and he treated the Indians no differently from white performers. During this time, the Native American rights movement began to flourish. But with their way of life in tatters, the Lakota and others availed themselves of the chance to perform in the Wild West show. When Cody died in 1917, a large contingent of Native Americans attended his public funeral. An iconic friendship tale like no other, Blood Brothers is a timeless story of people from different cultures who crossed barriers to engage each other as human beings. Here, Stillman provides “an account of the tragic murder of Sitting Bull that’s as good as any in the literature…Thoughtful and thoroughly well-told—just the right treatment for a subject about which many books have been written before, few so successfully” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

A collection of nine critical essays on the modern social science fiction novel, arranged in chronological order of their original publication.

A fabulous school story about fads and friendship from the bestselling author of Frindle. This is war. Okay--that's too dramatic. But no matter what this is called, so far I'm winning. And it feels wonderful. Grace and Ellie have been best friends since second grade. Ellie's always right in the center of everything--and Grace is usually happy to be Ellie's sidekick. But what happens when everything changes? This time it's Grace who suddenly has everyone's attention when she accidentally starts a new fad at school. A fad that has first her class, then her grade, and then the entire school collecting and trading and even fighting over . . . buttons?! A fad that might get her in major trouble and could even be the end of Grace and Ellie's friendship. Because Ellie's not used to being one-upped by anybody. There's only one thing for Grace to do. With the help of Hank, the biggest button collector in the 6th grade, she'll have to figure out a way to end the fad once and for all. But once a fad starts, can it be stopped? "A fun, charming story about fads and the friendships that outlast them."--Booklist "On-point."--Publishers Weekly

A sweet and soulful romantic debut about rumors, friendship, and discovering who you really are Alice Dyson knows exactly how she’ll be spending her final year of high school—with her head down, quietly concentrating on her textbooks and homework. She is focused on the future, and nothing and no one is going to get in her way. That is, until a bizarre encounter with Teddy Taualai, the school’s most notorious troublemaker, goes viral, derailing her plans and pushing her into the spotlight. Suddenly Alice’s under-the-radar life is one enormous, messy complication. And the worst part? Teddy Taualai is everywhere she turns. In author Poppy Nwosu’s pitch-perfect debut novel, an unlikely pair of outsiders take the daunting, delicate first steps toward becoming friends and maybe, just maybe, something more. Briskly paced with a complex and appealing cast of characters, this contemporary romance explores the ever-tricky dance of staying true to yourself while opening your heart.

Recounts the friendship between propaganda photographers Refik Veseli and Mosha Mandil and how their lives intersected with the foreign relations efforts between Albania and China. Consists primarily of archival photographs from the 1970s with captions in which the author assumes the voice Veseli.